The story was all too familiar, especially to those who have attended any of the multiple meetings called by state and local officials trying to solve a heroin crisis that has been killing hundreds of people a year in Maryland.
The man testifying before the governor's Heroin and Opioid Emergency Task Force on Wednesday spoke of a relative whose addiction has wreaked havoc on the family.
She's ruined her sister's record by claiming to be that sibling whenever she's arrested. She has stolen from her mother. And she bears a shoulder-to-shoulder scar from being slashed during a drug deal gone bad.
"She should be dead today," said Ron Bateman, the sheriff of Anne Arundel County.
That even law enforcement officials have seen the devastation of heroin in their families is perhaps no longer surprising in a state where the number of people who have fatally overdosed on the drug has gone up 95 percent from 2010 to 2013.
But those personal stories, as well as other on-the-ground experiences from doctors, treatment center operators, police and community advocates, are providing information for task force members as they work on a report due to Gov. Larry Hogan by Dec. 1.
In Baltimore, the site of the second of six task force meetings being held across the state, heroin is not a new subject.
"Heroin and opioid addiction ties into the very fabric of our city," Dr. Leana Wen, the city's health commissioner, told the panel.
It underlies nearly every major problem, from poverty to crime to mental illness, said Wen, who herself has been hosting meetings as the city's heroin task force studies the issue as well.
The state task force met all day Wednesday at the University of Baltimore law school, where it was welcomed by UB President Kurt L. Schmoke, whose tenure as the city's mayor in the 1980s and 1990s coincided with a crack epidemic that devastated many families and communities.
That experience at City Hall, as well as his work as a federal prosecutor and Baltimore state's attorney, offered lessons that apply to the current crisis, Schmoke told the task force.
"While we could conduct a war on drugs, it should primarily be a public health war rather than a criminal justice war," Schmoke said.
Schmoke created an uproar as mayor when he raised the issue of decriminalizing drugs. Now, however, as some states have legalized marijuana and others, such as Maryland, have decriminalized possession of small amounts, the issue is less controversial.
Schmoke quoted August Vollmer, a former police chief of Berkeley, Calif., who said that drug addiction is not a police problem but a medical one — and that is how it should be treated.
"That was in 1936," Schmoke said. "I believe it is time to heed his advice."
The chairman of the task force, Lt. Gov. Boyd K. Rutherford, agreed.
"We cannot arrest our way out of this," he said.
Rutherford said the task force is looking for ways to address the prevention and treatment of addiction, and finding ways to stop the flow of cheap yet highly potent heroin into the state.
The task force heard occasionally conflicting advice, particularly from the treatment community. Some argued for greater access to medications such as Suboxone that doctors say can successfully treat addiction. Others said such regimens only substitute one drug for another without addressing the underlying problem.
Rutherford assured the audience that the task force was open to all viewpoints, and said during a break that the group wouldn't be recommending one mode of treatment over another.
"Where I'm starting to lean a lot more is that there's no one size that fits all," he said. "We're all different, and so what may work for one person may not work for another."
Task force members, a mix of representatives from medical, advocacy, law enforcement and treatment areas, asked questions and seemed particularly interested in any studies that documented how effective different treatments and programs were.
The panel heard from county executives Alan Kittelman, Steven Schuh and Kevin Kamenetz, of Howard, Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties, respectively. Also testifying were law enforcement officials who advocated for drug courts and other diversionary measures, although some stressed the importance of continuing to crack down on dealers.
Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger made the case that the state is sending "mixed messages" with measures such as reducing penalties for marijuana crimes. He spoke about proposals to go after heroin dealers, especially those whose product ultimately kills their customers.
"It's the suppliers who provide these deadly drugs," Shellenberger said. "We want to have the tools to go after them."
Retired Baltimore Circuit Judge Ellen M. Heller hears cases in drug court, where certain offenders can be enrolled in intensive treatment and supervision as an alternative to incarceration. Heller said studies said drug court can reduce recidivism and is much more cost-effective than jailing an offender.
"It's no longer disputed that the war on drugs … has failed," Heller said. "Drug addiction is a disease, and treatment can work."
As she left the meeting, a woman approached her and said she had "graduated" from Heller's drug court.
"Today," she told the judge, "I have seven years clean."
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